Birthday Party Penny Toss

Some games arent necessarily birthday party games alone. They can be played on other occasions. But, its hard to find a game that goes along with the theme of any party or special occasion, is perfect for kids or adults, and will be loved by all. There is such a game, though. A penny toss game can have any theme, accommodate any amount or age of people, and cost little to make it.

Use a long board, foam board or piece of thick cardboard to make the game. Make it once and you can use it many times over the years. And, each time, the game can look differently. For now, lay out the board you want to use then lay a plastic tablecloth, shower curtain, sheet or piece of fabric over it. If you use a dollar-store cloth you can easily change the game anytime you want - cheap. Tape or glue the excess to the backside. Or, if youve cut the material to the exact size of the board, make a colorful tape border to hold down the edges.

Decide on a theme for the penny toss or use geometric or other common shapes to create the areas for the pennies. So, use sticker dots or other stickers, magic marker, rubber stamps or other supplies to make images on the cloth. Using your choice of materials to make images of birthday cakes, palm trees, squares or circles, clowns, logos, cartoon characters or others. No matter what images you use, feature several different colors of each or several different images, across the board. Each image should be somewhere between the size of a quarter and a half-dollar. At the celebration, there will need to be one person in charge of the game. He or she will rake the pennies off the table and call the next person "up". Set the board - inside or out - on buckets or other low objects. Its fun to set up a short pole near each corner of the board, and string crepe paper streamers between them, to make a line behind which the guests will stand to toss their pennies. Decide how many pennies to give each guest - 5, 10 or another amount. As each guest is "up" he or she will throw each of their pennies and try to land them on the images across the board. The penny must be at least halfway onto the image to be a winner. The person in charge of the board uses a whiskbroom and dustpan to brush the pennies off the board. He or she can hold the pennies in a pouch, tied around the waist, or can deposit them in a nearby bucket. For a small crowd the prize can be chosen on the spot. For a larger gathering the person in charge can hand out tickets which show what table or bucket theyll choose from. Make a sign or piece of paper that states what the prizes are. For example, all orange circles are worth something out of bucket number 1. All green circles get you something from bucket 2, and so forth. Or, if youre giving away larger prizes, the guests can pick their prizes from tables youve set up. The penny toss game can be played at a birthday party, wedding reception, holiday celebration and other special occasions. Use it over and over again and change the look of it each time. Its a cheap creation that will give you and others fun for many years. See the Penny Toss Game